Public safety officers from around Ohio, U.S., world converge on Cleveland to respect fallen comrades

By
Jonathan Tressler, The News-Herald

Friday, May 19, 2017

No matter who’s asked, the answer is usually the same: It’s great. But it’s also somber.

Such is the nature of a gathering like the Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Parade and Memorial Service in downtown Cleveland, which marked its 32nd anniversary May 19 with the customary assembly of police officers and all manner of law enforcement and public safety professionals from as close as Cleveland and as far away as Great Britain.

One Highland Hills patrolman perhaps summed up the feeling of the day to a T.

“It’s good. But it’s hard at the same time,” said Nathan Camarda, who was at the event with his family. “I love the fact that the city puts it on. But it is a bit of a somber event.”

He said, as likely any participant in Friday’s parade would agree, it’s both an honor and a privilege to remember those who came before and paid the ultimate price to serve and protect.

“We don’t ever want to forget,” he said. “That’s the big thing. And this is a nice way for all of us to support each other and stick together. It’s an outpouring of support and it helps us all recognize that we do have a tough job and that not everyone makes it home.”

He said that’s all part of the package when people decide to pursue careers in public safety.

“That’s our job, though: to be that front line and to serve and protect folks not necessarily prepared to do it, themselves,” he said.

The same philosophy holds true for Elyria Police Department Patrolman Mike Mahony, who attended Friday’s parade and memorial service with wife, Shannon, and 2-year-old son, Frankie.

“The one thing about law enforcement is that, in most departments, you work by yourself a lot,” he said. “Not every call prompts the response of multiple officers, with lights and sirens going, converging on one scene,” he said. “So, when you come and you see this, it just kind of reminds you that so many people have your back. It’s nice to see everybody together like this, honoring those who did it before us. So it’s kind of like we have their backs now, too. I think that’s important — that we never forget.”

When asked whether she worries about her husband while he’s on duty, Shannon Mahony said she has faith in Mike’s abilities, judgment and the others who have his back.

“I like to think that he knows what he’s doing,” she said. “He’s competent and it’s what he wants to do. So, for me, it’s most important to be supportive. I’m very proud of him and, as you can see, we have a very large (law enforcement) family to draw from.”

Mike’s dad was Lorain County sheriff in the 1980s and 1990s, he said, so law enforcement has been a big part of his life for most of his life and he said his son seems fascinated with the uniform, too.

“He pretends he’s playing the bagpipes,” Mike said.

Shannon added that, “He likes the pipes and drums.”

Mike said there’s another important component to an event like the parade and memorial, especially in today’s often volatile environment for law enforcement.

“You see a lot of things in the news that tend to highlight some of the mistakes some guys have made,” he said. “I like to think 99 percent of us are doing it right — for the right reasons. I do it in the community where I grew up. And a lot of other guys are doing the same thing, to help protect and serve the communities where they grew up. And some guys pay the ultimate sacrifice to do this work. It’s important to remember that.”

An especially poignant part of Friday’s memorial service was the remembrance of Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper Kenneth Velez and Cleveland police officer David Fahey, both of whom were killed in the same vicinity of I-90 in Cleveland by drivers who hit them as they were outside of their patrol vehicles.

Velez, of the Cleveland Post, was struck and killed during a traffic stop on Interstate 90 westbound near Lakewood on Sept. 15. Fahey was struck and killed while setting up flares at the site of an earlier crash involving a fire truck and a van on Interstate 90.

In both incidents, the drivers responsible did not stop after striking the lawmen.

The memorial service, itself, is held at the Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial in Huntington Park, East 12th Street and Lakeside Avenue. And, while it is the culmination of the police memorial parade, the parade is a part of the day in which officers from far and wide take create pride.

Take Lake County Deputy Sheriff James Wheeler, for example.

Over the last two decades, Wheeler has organized and overseen one of the most impressive features of the procession, which steps off at East 12 Street and Lakeside and makes its way west to Huntington Park. The feature in question is a massive American flag intended to be carried by 40 people.

Since the early 2000s, it’s been a fixture of the parade and officers from around the world have taken turns carrying it.

“It’s a very honorable, but easy, way to participate in the parade,” said Wheeler, who is recovering from ankle surgery himself and couldn’t participate in carrying the big flag this year.

He didn’t let his injury stop him from organizing its march, however.

“It’s a tremendous honor and it’s deeply troubling to me that I’m not able to participate in (carrying it) this year,” Wheeler said as he kneeled on the custom scooter doctors gave him to help ease his injury-related mobility issues. “But at least I was able to participate and help organize the detail. It’s just the first time ever that I’ve not been in the street with everyone else, so that was a little weird.”

He said it all went off without a hitch, however, despite the fact that winds coming off Lake Erie seemed to want to take Old Glory airborne on a couple occasions.

The flag, itself, comes by way of Painesville Elks Lodge 549, Wheeler said. It makes appearances at parades around Lake County throughout the year.